Dad wins big on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ — and credits his son with dyslexia for helping him get there
Not long ago, all the fans of 'Wheel of Fortune' got the chance to witness a beautiful moment when a contestant gave credit for his success to his son! During an episode of 'Wheel of Fortune' Season 42, which aired on February 10, contestant Matt Popovits disclosed how he ended up being a part of the show. When Popovits was joined on the stage by his family members, he revealed that one of his kids urged him to apply for the game show. As per People magazine, Popovits explained, “I have two great kids – Ava and Jack. And when Jack was diagnosed with dyslexia, we said, ‘Let’s watch Wheel as a way of helping him learn to read and spell.’"
While speaking about his son Jack, Popovits went on to say, “So, we started watching Wheel and he said, ‘Dad, you should audition.' And I said, ‘I will if you help me, and he did, and here we are!'” In the episode, Popovits wrapped up the game with $16,350 and a trip a Mexico. Later on, Popovits ended up guessing the correct answer during the Bonus Round, "I'm all Thumbs." When the game show host Ryan Seacrest declared that Popovits would be walking away with a whopping $56,000, his family came on the stage to celebrate.
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Soon after, Seacrest went on to ask Jack, “What do you think of dad?” In his response, Jack excitedly said, "Amazing!" After the episode aired, Popovits took to his Instagram page and shared a series of pictures and videos from the episode. "This will go down as a top ten moment in my 44 years of life. But what has made it so great isn’t the fact that I got to play an iconic game or win the bonus round. It was sharing that moment with my family and then celebrating it with all of you. Also, Ryan and Vanna are the real deal - so very kind," Popovits wrote in the caption of the post.
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Many fans of the show stopped by the comments section of Popovits' Instagram post to congratulate him on his big victory on 'Wheel of Fortune.' One social media user wrote, "We were all screaming watching!!!! Amazing!" Followed by a second user who penned, "Love this so much, this is amazing. Congratulations!!" Another netizen went on to say, "We watched it and cheered you on! You are a wonderful father! Congratulations 🎉." A user commented, "So awesome, so proud of you guys. I know that had to be a great experience, and it couldn’t happen to a better family. Y’all are awesome." Another user echoed the same sentiments by writing, "Fantastic! Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy! Love it!"
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During an interview with KHOU 11 News, Popovits candidly spoke about his entire experience on 'Wheel of Fortune' and stated that he felt confident when he made it to the final puzzle. At that point in time, Popovits shared, “I went into that bonus round knowing exactly what letters I would call, and it turns out that several of those letters did appear, and it made it very easy for me to solve the puzzle."